November 2018 - When the latest draft of the Withdrawal Agreement went online on Wednesday evening, it was to the innocuously titled Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland that many analysts and commentators turned.

November 2018 - British Prime Minister Theresa May can only deliver a Brexit that – like her leadership of the Conservative Party - nobody voted for. May was anointed leader after a preliminary nomination process that saw her main rivals withdrew before a final leadership ballot was put to all members of the Conservative Party.

November 2018 - We’d be safely on the home straight by now – Withdrawal Agreement agreed and a political declaration on the future UK-EU relationship undergoing a final polish – were it not for one dastardly issue: ‘the backstop’. And its complexity only appears to grow, regardless of how much the negotiators try to reassure us of their proximity to a conclusion: 80%, 90%, 95%!

October 2018 - The UK prime minister, Theresa May, has signalled to EU leaders that she is willing to accept a one-year extension to the proposed “transition period” that will follow the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on March 29 2019. This would mean that the UK could remain subject to EU rules and policies until December 31 2021. That would include remaining under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

October 2018 - This week's European Council meeting in Brussels was supposed to be the occasion when UK Prime Minister Theresa May sealed the deal with fellow EU on the terms of its withdrawal from the bloc. No deal was reached.

October 2018 - After crashing through an October "deadline" Wednesday for reaching a deal with her fellow European Union leaders on the terms of the UK's Withdrawal Agreement from the Union ("Brexit"), it was apparent that British Prime Minister Theresa May, had succeeded only in uniting the other 27 European Union leaders in a grim determination to throw her a lifeline, in the form of a one-year extension to the UK's period of transition to negotiate its new "third country" status outside the EU.

October 2018 - The impact of Brexit on human rights and equality in Northern Ireland is gaining increased attention. This is welcome. The public conversation thus far has tended to focus on the implications for trade and the economy; the common commitment to avoiding a hard border is also well known, and exhaustively discussed.

October 2018 - Owen Paterson, a former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, argued this week in the Guardian that the UK could leave the customs union, break free from EU rules, and still avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

October 2018 - Professor Colin Harvey, Dr Amanda Kramer and Brian Gormally from Brexit Law NI speak to NVTV about their recent research which has found that Brexit will threaten the peace process and weaken human rights and equality protections in Northern Ireland.

October 2018 - The NHS was of course an issue during the EU referendum campaign. However, whilst its logo sat on the side of the Vote Leave bus, there was hardly what amounted to a proper debate about the possible implications of leaving the EU for the health service in the UK. Now, almost two years on, we need to address what Brexit might mean for the NHS and public health. This is no easy task.

October 2018 - One of the principal architects of Northern Ireland’s peace process has urged the British government and the European Union to keep to their promises in avoiding a hard border post-Brexit.
George Mitchell, who played an historic part in brokering the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, called for political leaders involved in the Brexit negotiations to look back on the work of their predecessors in reaching the deal that ended decades of bloodshed.

October 2018 - Time is running short to figure out a Brexit deal. British Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with European Union leaders in mid-October to once again try to hash out a deal over the terms of the United Kingdom’s exit — or “Brexit” — from the EU.

September 2018 - A major new research study launched today at Queen’s by researchers from BrexitLawNI has found that Brexit will have detrimental consequences for the peace process in Northern Ireland and will weaken human rights and equality protections.

September 2018 - Michel Barnier has expressed his frustration with Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, for allegedly withholding information from the EU, as the question of the Irish border erupted again in the Brexit negotiations.

August 2018 - Dr Viviane Gravey and Dr Mary Dobbs organised a workshop in Belfast on the Future of Environmental Governance in Northern Ireland, in partnership with Nature Matters NI to foster discussions on the DEFRA consultation on an environmental watchdog, the workshop brough together 50+ stakeholders from a variety of sectors to discuss common frameworks, cross-border issues, environmental principles and accountability and enforcement.

August 2018 - BBC News NI has asked a number of Brexit experts for their assessment of the current state of play in the negotiations, and whether a deal between the EU and UK on the border can be done.

July 2018 - The status of the Irish border after Brexit is the most complicated and contested part of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The UK government insists the issue can only be addressed in the formulation of a new UK-EU relationship.

July 2018 - Video featuring Dr Katy Hayward and Sean Campbell, CEO of the Irish Central Border Network Area, talking about the 'Bordering on Brexit' research report which looks at the views of people in the Irish border region on Brexit and the impact it will have on their local communities.

July 2018 - On 28 May 2018, the Political Studies Association (PSA) and Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) held their first ever joint meeting to discuss some of the likely challenges and potential opportunities the Brexit process has presented. The report details the findings from the meeting.

June 2018 - Follow-up report, by Dr Katy Hayward, to the 'Bordering on Brexit' report which was completed in November 2017. The research for this 'Brexit at the Border' study was conducted in March-May 2018 - approximately a year away from the withdrawal date. It was conducted jointly between Queen’s University Belfast and ICBAN (Irish Central Border Area Network).

June 2018 - What happens to Northern Ireland once the UK leaves the European Union has become one of the most complex issues in the Brexit negotiations. The problem stems from the fact that the Good Friday Agreement has been interpreted as precluding a return to a hard border – that is, any physical infrastructure – between the North and South of the island of Ireland.

May 2018 - How might the UK “take back control” of its borders without making the border in Ireland any harder. One proposal on the table is maximum facilitation (max fac). This approach does not avoid the creation of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland but rather aims to make the border as invisible and frictionless as possible through the use of technology.

May 2018 - Professor Colin Harvey and Dr Nikos Skoutaris from the University of East Anglia look at how the formal recognition of the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland is vital to securing the objectives being sought for an orderly Brexit.

May 2018 - Theresa May has her cabinet working on two possible outcomes for the Irish border post-Brexit - either a customers partnership or a solution that relies on technology. Dr Katy Hayward, from Queen's University Belfast features.

April 2018 - If the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU takes the form of an association agreement, it will be based on treaty provisions that in 1957 were drafted by ‘the Six’ very much with the UK in mind. UK officials, in receipt of ‘under the counter’ copies of key documents from the Val Duchesse negotiations on establishing the European Economic Community, were not only very much aware of the drafting process but, with ministerial approval, also sought to influence directly the wording.
EU

April 2018 - The two ‘Remain’ areas of the UK – Northern Ireland and Scotland – are mostly analysed separately in Brexit debates says Dr Katy Hayward and Dr Kirsty Hughes from the Scottish Centre on European Relations.

April 2018 - The two ‘Remain’ areas of the UK – Northern Ireland and Scotland – are mostly analysed separately in Brexit debates. Northern Ireland faces a unique complex of problems given the challenge of managing the Irish border as an external frontier of the EU alongside protecting the operation of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement.

April 2018 - Progress on the issue of Northern Ireland/Ireland must be made before the European Council summit in June 2018. For this to happen, the UK government has to put forward proposals that meet the commitments it made in the Joint Report of December 2017.

April 2018 - This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. Katy Hayward (Queens University Belfast) considers the current debate about whether Brexit is a threat to peace and stability in Northern Ireland.

April 2018 - A specialist in European issues, David Phinnemore teaches at Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland. The future withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union has led it to consider the possible implications of Brexit on Ireland and Northern Ireland.

April 2018 - April 10 is the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. To mark the occasion, the DCU Brexit Institute blog is publishing pieces by several authors on Brexit and the Good Friday Agreement.

March 2018 - This report is our attempt to answer these and other questions about this most unique of times. It brings together some of the best minds working on Brexit, to explain what their research reveals about a range of areas where Brexit is having or will have an impact. It makes a unique and original contribution to the Brexit debate.

March 2018 - Significant political and economic uncertainty characterises the Brexit process one year after the UK triggered Article 50, a new report by academic group The UK in a Changing Europe finds.

March 2018 - Based on a legal analysis of the position of the island of Ireland in the draft withdrawal agreement, this paper argues that the draft does neither fully protect socio-economic and civic cooperation between on the island of Ireland, nor do justice to the Agreement concluded in Belfast on Good Friday 1998 (the 1998 Agreement).

March 2018 - Although they officially leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, the British will de facto continue to comply with all EU rules until 31 December 2020, without having any control over them.

March 2018 - The NHS was of course an issue during the EU referendum campaign. However, whilst its logo sat on the side of the Vote Leave bus, there was hardly what amounted to a proper debate about the possible implications of leaving the EU for the health service in the UK. Now, almost two years on, we need to address what Brexit might mean for the NHS and public health. This is no easy task.

February 2018 - This briefing paper is designed to inform discussion regarding the need and options for regulatory alignment on the island of Ireland in the context of Brexit and, in particular, the UK-EU Joint Report of 8 December 2017.

February 2018 - Political Sociologist of Queen’s University Belfast Dr Katy Hayward explores what completion of phase one of the Brexit negotiations determines and outlines the various scenarios for the future of the Irish border during and after transition.

February 2018 - Part five of the IIEA’s February 2018 Brexit Status Report series is written by David Phinnemore, from Queen's University Belfast, and one of the leading academic experts on Brexit and Northern Ireland. In this piece, he sets out the state of play in the Brexit negotiations as seen from Northern Ireland.

February 2018 - Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU at the June 2016 referendum by a margin of 56% to 44%. Voting was very strongly linked to the underlying divide in Northern Ireland between Catholic nationalists (who tend to identify as Irish and favour a united Ireland) and Protestant unionists (who tend to identify as British and favour maintaining Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom).

February 2018 - The UK’s ability to conduct its own trade policy and, in particular, to negotiate its own trade agreements has been consistently put forward as one of the key benefits of leaving the European Union.

February 2018 - “During the second phase of the negotiations, in view of the unique circumstances and specific nature of issues related to the island of Ireland, the work on detailed arrangements required to give effect to the principles and commitments set out in the Joint Report should continue in a distinct Strand”.

February 2018 - Being outside a customs union with the EU will mean that costs of many goods will be higher, risks associated with trade will be greater, and borders (including with Ireland) will have to be harder. Dr Katy Hayward cautions about the consequences for British businesses and consumers of this new statement of intention from the British government.

January 2018 - The House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution's Report on the EU Withdrawal bill is out this morning with evidence and citations from Professor Gordon Anthony and the Brexit Law NI project led by Professor Colin Harvey.

January 2018 - After the Brexit referendum, anxious Brits started frantically Googling the term ‘Norway model’. This wasn’t because they were desperately looking for the latest fashion photoshoot from their favourite Scandinavian supermodel. It was because the economic future of their country is going to depend, to a large extent, on the type of future trading relationship Britain follows with the European Union.

January 2018 - When it comes to looking at the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland, the BrexitLawNI project has been out and about gathering information about the concerns of people living in Northern Ireland. Townhall-style events have taken place in Belfast, Derry and Enniskillen, with more events scheduled next month.

January 2018 - It takes only a few seconds to drive across the bridge between the towns of Blacklion and Belcoo. That they are in different countries is not readily apparent, notwithstanding the speed limit signs. Blacklion is in the Republic of Ireland and uses kilometres. Belcoo is in Northern Ireland and uses miles.

January 2018 - London and Dublin are making a fresh push to break Northern Ireland’s political deadlock, as Brexit raises the stakes in a deepening crisis that has left the region without a government in Stormont for a year.

January 2018 - Holding an Irish passport has become quite the statement. Since the Brexit vote applications have surged for a number of reasons including re-asserting an Irish identity in Britain and the north respectively. Also by Britons that want to hold on to their European Union citizenship.

December 2017 - After the prime minister triggered Article 50 back in March, her handling of the Phase One talks with the European Union has been put in question with the “best possible deal” in fact turning into London’s concessions on major issues. And while the talks moved on to Phase Two this December, nothing looks certain in the EU-UK agreements.

December 2017 - On 15 December 2017 the European Council agreed that ‘sufficient progress’ had been made on the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU to move negotiations to a second phase and discussion of the future UK-EU relationship.

December 2017 - What do young people in Belfast think about Brexit? This question was at the heart of the ‘My Life My Say and European Parliament Brexit Café’, held for people under 30 in Belfast on 8 December 2017.

December 2017 - The UK has a new starting point for its negotiations with the EU on the future relationship, with the phase 2 talks almost certainly unlocked following on last week’s EU-UK joint report.

December 2017 - The UK has offered surety for maintaining an open Irish border, promising to maintain wide-ranging alignment with EU rules covering every aspect of the 1998 Agreement, north/south and east/west. Moreover, it has asserted that Northern Ireland will ultimately have the right to decide for itself to follow UK or EU rules, should they diverge in the future.

December 2017 - Professor Colin Harvey speaks to the Oxford Human Rights Hub Podcast about the Brexit deal that has been reached between the UK and EU this morning. He also discusses the importance of human rights in Northern Ireland in the on-going discussions.

December 2017 - EU negotiators announced on December 8 that enough progress has been achieved in Brexit negotiations for talks to move on to a second phase – the nature of the future relationship between the UK and the EU. A deal on the Irish border, a major sticking point in the talks, was given the go-ahead by both the EU and UK. Here academic experts explain aspects of the agreement.

December 2017 - The DUP’s apparent scuppering of the Brexit deal in Brussels this week is not merely a sign of political intransigence. The party has been effectively pushed into a corner by the way British government ministers have framed Brexit as a challenge for the Irish border.

December 2017 - Why is Northern Ireland/Ireland (NI/IRL) such a huge sticking point in the Brexit negotiations? It boils down to the implications of three things: leaving the Single Market, leaving the Customs Union, and upholding the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, writes Katy Hayward (Queen’s University Belfast).

November 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward and Professor David Phinnemore highlight their current report on UK withdrawal and the Good Friday Agreement requested by the AFCO Committee of the European Parliament and commissioned by the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs.

November 2017 - Upon request by the AFCO Committee, the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs commissioned this study on UK withdrawal and the Good Friday Agreement (the ‘Agreement’). It provides an overview of the Agreement and an assessment of the potential challenges posed to its implementation by ‘Brexit’

November 2017 - Much of the focus of the Brexit debate, with respect to N. Ireland/Ireland, has moved to ‘solutions’. Many are now on offer (‘reverse’ this and ‘plus’ that). How should these proposals be judged with reference to some of the values that are informing the BrexitLawNI project? There is scope for differing views but there are five issues I want to highlight (with the aim of promoting discussion).

November 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward looks at some of the findings from the report entitled Bordering on Brexit: views from local communities in the Central Border Region of Ireland/Northern Ireland – conducted by the Centre for International Borders Research at Queen's on behalf of the Irish Central Border Area Network.

November 2017 - Research report by Queen's University Belfast and the Irish Central Border Area Network on the effect of Brexit on the local communities in the central border region of Ireland/Northern Ireland.

November 2017 - The language of ‘flexible and imaginative’ solutions is unique to the Irish dimension of Brexit, writes Professor David Phinnemore from Queen’s University Belfast. Furthermore, he argues that at the heart of the commitment of all parties involved in the exit negotiations is the desire to ensure that Brexit does not in any way undermine the Northern Ireland peace process. He outlines what a range of ‘flexible and imaginative’ solutions might entail.

October 2017 - There are many unfortunate results of Brexit, but one of the most problematic is the adverse effects that Brexit has had on current and future relationships between Britain and Ireland, and within Northern Ireland. These adverse effects were entirely predictable and show little sign of abating.

October 2017 - Brexit has intensified discussion of the border on the island of Ireland. One thing that both the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA 1998) and membership of the EU did was to take the hard edges off this issue by normalising movement, as well as promoting the idea of transnational institutions and the concept of multiple identities.

October 2017 - The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an arrangement whereby UK legislation provides there are no border (i.e. passport) controls across the land border on the island of Ireland. Common EU membership has also ended customs controls. Any restriction on freedom of movement over the land border engages compatibility with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement (GFA 1998).

October 2017 - Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU and that fact continues to be significant. Common membership of the EU has been a basic assumption of the peace process and the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and Ireland has also underpinned that peace. There is extensive debate at all levels on the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland and how these will be reflected in the
discussions ahead.

October 2017 - At this stage of the exit negotiations, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is not a technical issue but a political one, argues Katy Hayward from Queen’s University Belfast. She explains exactly why the Northern Irish/Irish issue is a block preventing the Brexit talks from progressing, and provides suggestions on how to shift it.

October 2017 - Dr Katy Hayward moved to Northern Ireland in 1995. She reflects on the changes she has witnessed, and the impact of Brexit.
German postgraduate student Dominik Hamm arrived in Belfast in autumn 2016, shortly after the EU referendum. He talks about what Brexit could mean for him.

October 2017 - Dr Glenn Patterson, writer and Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen's, heads south for the border. He visits Omeath and Newry to find out how those living along the border see the future post-Brexit.

October 2017 - Professor Colin Harvey and Professor Lee McGowan discuss the implications of Brexit for the Good Friday Agreement, the Common Travel Area, and the future of Northern Ireland as well as of the United Kingdom as a whole.

September 2017 - The 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement has been far more significant than making the Irish border less visible – it has redefined relations across these islands in a way that have defused it as a cause for political conflict and violence.

August 2017 - With Brexit negotiations stalled in their early stages and Britain's exit date rapidly approaching, earnest discussions are underway about what the UK can do to avoid a "cliff-edge" Brexit.

August 2017 - Following the UK government's release of its position paper on the position of Northern Ireland and Ireland after Brexit, Professor Dagmar Schiek shares her initial thoughts on the paper and highlights what is not being addressed.

July 2017 - Michel Barnier’s recent dismissal of the notion of “frictionless” trade between the UK and EU after Brexit has direct ramifications for one of the most complex problems faced by the Brexit negotiators: how to manage the Irish Border.

July 2017 - The majority of Brexit supporters would be happy to swap European free movement for single market access, according to two studies which suggest ways for Britain to pull back from the brink in the upcoming negotiations.

June 2017 - As Brexit negotiations get underway, it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how the UK can pursue its former “have your cake and eat it” strategy, particularly when it comes to a trade deal.

June 2017 - The UK has finally made an offer to allow some EU citizens to retain some rights in the UK after Brexit. There are two sets of issues that arise: the substantive rights that will need to be agreed to, and the enforcement of these rights.

June 2017 - Britain should consider a pact with the European Free Trade Association to kick-start its post-Brexit trading relations with 38 nations, according to Foraus, a think tank focused on Swiss foreign policy.

April 2017 - Cooperation across the Irish border has been painstakingly achieved against a myriad of obstacles. This achievement is to a very large extent due to the UK and Ireland’s common membership of the European Union.

April 2017 - In some ways the most obvious way to mitigate some of the key impacts of Brexit on Northern Ireland is for Northern Ireland to join the European Economic Area (EEA). This paper sets out the case and addresses the difficulties.

April 2017 - Change in the status of UK citizens, goods and services vis-à-vis the EU (and vice versa) means that inevitably there will be significant increase in the ‘friction’ experienced and the scale of immigration and customs controls.

March 2017 - Theresa May has finally triggered Article 50 so the process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU has begun. Professor David Phinnemore lays out the various stages in the negotiations over the next two years.

March 2017 - Professor Dagmar Schiek analyses the extent to which the EU’s association agreements and the new generation of its global trade agreements allow the UK to avoid the jurisdiction of the Court.

February 2017 - For the United Kingdom, March 2017 represents a significant turning point. Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union and the Brexit clock will start ticking.

February 2017 - The triggering of Article 50 by PM Theresa May is imminent, but what will happen over the next two-years? Professor David Phinnemore outlines the projected timetable for negotiations and the main issues that will be up for discussion.

January 2017 - Leaving the single market became an inevitability for the UK from the moment the Brexit referendum was framed as an outright rejection of one of its fundamental pillars: the free movement of people.